The image depicts the dramatic moments following the explosion of Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Firefighters, unaware of the true magnitude of the catastrophe and the deadly radiation surrounding them, fought the blaze with ordinary equipment, as if it were a normal fire. In the background, the reactor is engulfed by thick black smoke, while water jets strike the crumbling walls. Many of these men would die within weeks, becoming the first heroes of a tragedy the world had never seen before.